Oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with small amounts of other substances and is found in many places in the upper strata of the earth. Wells are drilled for these deposits and oil is produced. Oil is nearly always produced with some water and must be separated from the water before it can be used. There are elaborate transport systems for the oil, including pipelines that crisscross the country and, in some cases, even in water covered areas. Transport systems also include huge ocean-going oil tankers for carrying the oil. It is inevitable that there will be an occasional spill or leakage of the oil onto water or land. One of the most published oil spills is the Kuwait oil disaster created by the Gulf War of 1991. To limit the damage to the environment it is necessary to clean up these oil spills as expeditiously as possible. The invention disclosed herein shows a system for recovering oil from such spills.